1. Field of the Invention:
Aspects of the present invention relate to products such as mobile phones and cameras/camcorders for creating three dimensional (3D) video. More particularly, aspects of the present invention relate to creating 3D video using two dimensional (2D) cameras.
2. Description of the Related Art:
Multi-view or 3D video is becoming popular due to the availability of 3D displays and the growing use of multi-camera arrays. Multi-view capture uses arrays of cameras to capture a 3D scene through multiple independent video streams. Plenoptic cameras, which capture the light field of a scene, can also be used to capture multiple views with a single main lens.
Multiview Video Coding (MVC) is an amendment to the H.264/Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG)-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) video compression standard developed with joint efforts by MPEG/Video Coding Expert Group (VCEG) that enables efficient encoding of sequences captured simultaneously from multiple cameras using a single video stream. The MVC standard can be applied to compress the 3D video, and may be used with 3D TV and free viewpoint television (FTV) systems that allow viewers to control the viewpoint of the scene on the screen. Additionally, MVC has backward compatibility with H.264/AVC codecs, which makes possible its wide application in different devices that can display 2D and 3D images.
Autostereoscopic 3D displays allow for the display of three-dimensional images that can be viewed without the use of special headgear or glasses. These methods produce depth perception to the viewer even though the image is produced by a flat device. Several technologies exist for autostereoscopic 3D displays. Currently, most flat-panel solutions employ lenticular lenses or a parallax barrier. If the viewer positions his or her head in certain viewing positions, he or she will perceive a different image with each eye, resulting in a stereo image. Such displays can have multiple viewing zones allowing multiple users to view the image at the same time.
The current 3D video systems require multi-camera arrays to generate 3D video content. This requirement of multi-camera arrays makes the overall system cost and complexity high, limiting the widespread use of 3D video.